It is standard as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,278 for a wall-mount faucet assembly to have a mounting fitting adapted to be fixed in the wall and connected to incoming hot- and cold-water lines. This fitting is formed with an outwardly directed seat provided with hot- and cold-water ports to which can be fastened an end of a substantially cylindrical body centered on an axis of a mixing faucet. An annular holder has two parts that engage complementarily around the faucet body adjacent the base and against the wall and that can be secured together to clamp the holder to the faucet body. An annular cover plate engageable around the faucet body and over the holder axially with the wall is fastened to this holder to lock it in place. The cover plate includes a main part formed with a radially open slot wide enough to fit over the faucet body, and a filler part complementarily engageable in the slot.
The main problem with such an arrangement is that the screws that are engaged through the main part of the cover plate and into the fixture can be tightened too much so that they deform the cover plate. It is even possible for the screws to be tightened such that the cover plate only deforms over time, not immediately.
It is further known, for example from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/786,391, (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,567) for the recessed plumbing fixture to be equipped with an escutcheon having a main plate shaped to fit around the projecting fixture part flatly against the wall and to cover the hole, at least one fastener engageable through the main plate with the fixture to press the plate against the wall, a cover plate fittable on the main plate over the fastener, and formations integrally formed with the plates and securing the plates together. The main plate has an outer periphery provided with a soft seal ring engaging the wall. In addition the main plate has inward of its outer periphery a central recess in which the cover plate is received. The formations include pins unitarily formed on the cover plate and complementary seats unitarily formed in the main plate.
These integral coupling pins, which may be set up so that a screw can be inserted in them to spread them, allow only minimal adjustment for different mounting depths. This is particularly disadvantageous because the plumbing fitting is frequently roughed in so that when the wall and tile is complete it is not at the required spacing from the finished-wall surface.